An ode to Saturn
I'm on my 3rd Saturn and it will be the last one. The 1st one was a 95 SL1, which is the reason I got the other 2, but they so far are not as good as the 1st one. I had 214k on the SL1 and gave it to a friend of mine who was having a car shortage. He got another 60K out of it before falling asleep (working 2 jobs) and crashing it. The 2nd car was an 02 Vue. This one made a lot of return trips to the repair shop but the SL1 never did other than normal maintenance (except for a cracked head at 128k).
While owning the Vue, we purchased our 3rd, an L300. The L300 had to go back to the dealer the very next day after purchasing it, as the electrical system didn't work properly. All the electrical devices in the car blinked on and off constantly, so the gave me a different one, which never did get prepped as the 1st one did. I've still got the window sticker tape on the windshield and passenger window as a reminder of "great customer service". The lights still blink periodically too. Great.
But back to the Vue...shortly after getting the L300, we noticed one of the passenger window motors on the Vue wasn't moving the window at the correct speed (REALLY slow up and down), so we took it back to the dealer and they said the motor controller was bad and we'd need a replacement. They didn't have any in stock on the next trip, so the trip after that, we got a new motor. Turns out my regular warranty had expired and they charged my wife the 100$ deductible for a repair that should have been fully covered.
Obviously, that was the last time I set foot in that dealership. But since I've left their loving care, I've found out the same guy owns all the Saturn dealers in the greater Cincinnati area, so even tho my Saturn warranty may still be fully covered by the company, I've no where to take the car any more. I say that because the dealer that I bought the L300 from told me the blinking lights were normal for that model. Yeah, right.
I still could have been convinced to buy another Saturn tho up until last fall. Something expensive happened to the engine in the Vue at 85k. It was going to require a 2500$ fix, which was out of extended warranty (time passed, so I lost the rest of the mileage on my extension). I tried to work a deal with them on buying a new Outlook, which the wife and I really liked, but they wouldn't work any deal at all. We looked at the same model Buick & GMC. After driving all 3 and looking at the options, we bought the Buick. The single reason I didn't get the Outlook was because for 43k$, it was cheap looking on the inside. Everything on the dash was black plastic....not my idea of a 40k$ car.
So, I have severed my Saturn ties. Since the "bailout, I've also purchased my last GM car/truck. Too bad too, because I've always liked them. I was kinda hoping on hearing the news that Penske bought Saturn, it might become the organization it was back in the 90's so we'd see a decent car being produced there again.....will that ever happen? If it does and GM doesn't have their hand in it, I might buy one again.
While owning the Vue, we purchased our 3rd, an L300. The L300 had to go back to the dealer the very next day after purchasing it, as the electrical system didn't work properly. All the electrical devices in the car blinked on and off constantly, so the gave me a different one, which never did get prepped as the 1st one did. I've still got the window sticker tape on the windshield and passenger window as a reminder of "great customer service". The lights still blink periodically too. Great.
But back to the Vue...shortly after getting the L300, we noticed one of the passenger window motors on the Vue wasn't moving the window at the correct speed (REALLY slow up and down), so we took it back to the dealer and they said the motor controller was bad and we'd need a replacement. They didn't have any in stock on the next trip, so the trip after that, we got a new motor. Turns out my regular warranty had expired and they charged my wife the 100$ deductible for a repair that should have been fully covered.
Obviously, that was the last time I set foot in that dealership. But since I've left their loving care, I've found out the same guy owns all the Saturn dealers in the greater Cincinnati area, so even tho my Saturn warranty may still be fully covered by the company, I've no where to take the car any more. I say that because the dealer that I bought the L300 from told me the blinking lights were normal for that model. Yeah, right.
I still could have been convinced to buy another Saturn tho up until last fall. Something expensive happened to the engine in the Vue at 85k. It was going to require a 2500$ fix, which was out of extended warranty (time passed, so I lost the rest of the mileage on my extension). I tried to work a deal with them on buying a new Outlook, which the wife and I really liked, but they wouldn't work any deal at all. We looked at the same model Buick & GMC. After driving all 3 and looking at the options, we bought the Buick. The single reason I didn't get the Outlook was because for 43k$, it was cheap looking on the inside. Everything on the dash was black plastic....not my idea of a 40k$ car.
So, I have severed my Saturn ties. Since the "bailout, I've also purchased my last GM car/truck. Too bad too, because I've always liked them. I was kinda hoping on hearing the news that Penske bought Saturn, it might become the organization it was back in the 90's so we'd see a decent car being produced there again.....will that ever happen? If it does and GM doesn't have their hand in it, I might buy one again.
Labels: Cars
posted by Ricky at
8:12 AM
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